Bobcats thrive in shadows of national opponents

by Joe Arnold
Staff Writer
Joseph.Arnold@ohiou.edu

CINCINNATI - Ask the three most prominent members of the Ohio men's basketball team about playing ranked opponents in hostile environments and their eyes light up.

"We always talk about that," Ohio forward Brandon Hunter said. "In our eyes, Kentucky is one of the top three teams ever. We love big crowds. (Whether it is) North Carolina or Wisconsin, we love big crowds."

Although no official attendance numbers were announced, seating for Saturday's game at the U.S. Bank Arena was near its 16,000-seat capacity. However, only a small fraction of the crowd was not wearing Kentucky blue and white.

The 14th meeting between the two teams also marked the first time since the 1999-2000 season that the Bobcats faced a ranked, non-conference opponent. That year, the Queen City again proved to be unkind to Ohio as it fell 73-59 to No. 1 Cincinnati. Ohio also fell 84-78 to No. 19 Wake Forest in double overtime that season.

For Ohio forward Steve Esterkamp, Saturday's game was special. A Cincinnati native, Esterkamp grew up a Kentucky fan. But whether it is Buffalo or Kentucky, the same preparation goes into every game, Esterkamp said.

"You've got to treat it like another game." he said. "You can't treat it any different. You can't treat it with more passion. You've got to come out an play like that everyday."

Since the 1995-96 season, Ohio is 1-6 against ranked, non-conference opponents. The lone win came against No. 11 Syracuse in 1998-99. The Bobcats beat the Orangemen 61-55 in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.

With almost one ranked opponent on the schedule every year, guard Sonny Johnson said the team is getting used to hearing about polls and rankings.

"We're getting used to it," he said. "We enjoy it as a team."

For Hunter, it all comes to the size of the crowd. The bigger the crowd, the better the atmosphere, he said.

"We don't like going into small arenas with two or three thousand people," Hunter said. "I don't know if that's a maturity thing, but we love it. We love for people to scream our names and yell 'Air ball.' We just love that stuff."

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